Writing for Accountancy Age Land said these were the reasons for E&Y’s decision to publish ‘full plc-style annual report and accounts’ in 1996.

Land went onto say, that as business advisors, it was important for the firm to practice what it preached.

Publishing annual reports, especially for those firms auditing listed companies, is a key objective of the Accountancy Agemanifesto for change published to spotlight areas of concern within the profession.

Quoting figures from a MORI Poll, he said 93% of directors of top businesses, banks and investment companies believed accountancy firms should publish the equivalent of an annual report.

Accountancy Age opinion editor Michelle Perry disagreed, saying accountancy partnerships were not under any legal obligation to allow the public to pry into their own private affairs.